November 30, 2007

This really doesn't need any sort of introduction but to say that these people are my heroes, and those of you who will one day attend my wedding better watch out - you know how I feel about bad rap and R&B.

Friend #1 pointed out by the time any of us get married we'll be "too geriatric to dance," though Friend #2 maintains that she "will be able to do the sprinkler and the running man well into her 80s," and Friend #3 claims she'll be able to use a walker as a pole.

Classic. We didn't hear anything like this during Michigan's football season this year, we were like, giving ourselves the business.

November 27, 2007

Yay! The Crapper is back! Behold all the shit that's been bouncing around in my head, but doesn't necessitate an entire post. ("Stacy, I don't own A gun, let alone many guns that would necessitate an entire rack!")

October Road - Oh man. I got sucked into this show during a Thanksgiving weekend marathon on the Soap Network. This show is bad. Really, really bad. It's what I envision What About Brian to have been like, only worse. I mean, I love the cast and the premise - but the writing is horrendous and the plot has evolved about four inches since the premier as far as I can tell. And, my love Tom Berenger (of Big Chill fame) looks like Marlon Brando late in life - one french fry away from sudden death.

Now Boarding All Passengers, All Rows - Anyone fly Northwest in the last six months? Then you know that the airline has now gone to an "all passengers, all rows" boarding scheme. Instead of having the plane board in an orderly fashion (by row, or zone, or whatever), after elite boarding they just let evvvveryone on. What ensues is a bum rush of EPIC proportions. Witness exhibits A, which was taken the Sunday after Thanksgiving at the Detroit Airport. However, to be fair, while this boarding system may cause mass panic among those with roll aboards looking for an overhead, it doesn't really slow down the boarding process in any discernible manner. Innnnterssting...

Mona Lisa Secret Service Agent Smile - As some of you may know, there are Middle East Peace Talks occurring this week in the DC area. Holy security convoy Batman - DC looks like it's on lock down. I walk by the Ritz multiple times a day, and in my infinite boredom I have been trying to see who I can get to smile at me - the Secret Service Agents or the Federal Agents in camo totting the largest guns I have ever seen in real life. So far, Secret Service just stares at me, probably assessing my Burberry entrenched ass for threats (ha), but the camo guys seem pretty friendly...

November 22, 2007

A few days late to the game on this one on account of missing How I Met Your Mother for my pilates class on Monday night - but I would be remiss if I didn't blog about one of the best episodes of this show... ever.

A few months ago I blogged about www.slapbetcoundown.com - a clock alluded to in the season premier which counted down the seconds until Marshall slapped Barney for the third time. (Barney lost a bet last season, and could get 10 slaps immediately or five slaps to be handed out over the course of a lifetime.) After Monday's episode, where despite much drama, a slap was doled out, the website redirected to a YouTube video of Marshall singing his smash hit (ok, sorry) "You Just Got Slapped" - a video that was not featured or mentioned in the episode.

In the last three days the video has proven its word of mouth worth - racking up over 100,000 views, being favorited almost 500 times and receiving 105 comments. The How I Met Your Mother YouTube Channel is also faring well with nearly 115,000 channel views and 1,500 subscribers. The video content on it is good too - all the memorable moments from any given episode - for instance, I implore you to check out this video of Barney explaining the Crazy - Hot X/Y axis for women. Keep up the good work on the social media front friends!

Halo 3 - The Biggest Launch In Entertainment History (Like, ever!)Jeff Bell, Corporate VP of Global Marketing and Interactive Entertainment at Microsoft wooed us with stories of how they launched Halo 3. Their launch goal was to target 1) Halo purchasers, 2) the next crop of XBox purchasers and 3) a broader gaming audience - and make the Halo 3 the best selling game in history. (Sounds easy!) Microsoft created a strategy built around the "together experience" of gaming - having fun, leveraging your identity, gaining a sense of achievement and self-esteem, building community, and escaping.

Here are a few of the ways that Microsoft tied WOM and social media to their promotional efforts - capturing the base, and carrying the buzz to other audiences leading up to the Halo 3 launch:

Television and Social Media:A 60 second spot ran ONCE, alluding to a game back story that fan boys had been calling for, and offering little easter eggs for the die hards. The commercial was then posted to YouTube, where it has acquired over 27 million views. Later ads that ran for the game didn't actually SHOW the game in order to keep non-gamers tuned in - they appealed to hard core enthusiasts, but kept other interested through the Halo 3 branding on the last frame. (If you have a second, follow those links to the videos, I'm not a gamer, but they are sweet - so mission accomplished on that front.)

Beta Test and Social Media:1 million people participated in a one level beta test of the game. The beta crowd was gleaned from known enthusiasts and sweepstakes winners. The resulting buzz on social media platforms helped carry the "best of the three games" and "don't need to have played the first two to play this one" messages that Microsoft was hoping to position.

Alternate Reality Game and Social Media: A five "episode" ARG was developed to hype the launch to the existing fan base. All in all, over 1 million people participated.

One episode involved a posting on Craig's List about flood control (which is a tie-in to the game). Users called the phone number in the ad and received a code that unlocked the server and gave them a clue.

Another episode involved a website featuring a famous poem with two lines rewritten. The clue lead to a fake book on Amazon.com, which lead to research on the "author" who had a blog. Fans found the "author" on MSN Messanger and IMed him get you another code to unlock a clue.

A third revolved around a ringtone fans could downlaod. A clue on Entertainment Tonight - Canada lead fans to learn that if you played the ringtone into your computer it would unlock the server.

We all know the end of this story - the launch was a huuuge, gigantic, stupendous success. There were $170 million in sales on the first day, and $300 million in one week. 1.6 million gamers played the game in the first week, equaling over 40 million hours of gaming. In total, Microsoft spent 55% of their ad budget on non-traditional marketing and social media extensions.

Join me as I experience the WOMMA panel No Fans, No Brand - WOM lessons from the World of Rock & Roll, featuring Ken Block the lead vocalist for Sister Hazel, Andy Levine Sister Hazel's ex-tour manager and owner of Sixth Man, and Marc Pruitt a "Hazelnut".

The BeginningWhen Sister Hazel started, they put a big emphasis on creating unique shows and creating a community of fans. They saw the value in creating concentric circles of people who could carry their band further and further away from the core. The band targeted a few college markets early on - going out and personally inviting (and singing!) for would be attendees. For every cassette they sold, they would give away 2 more - and the band would send CD's to campuses they had never been to - and had huge turn out at shows as a result. Sister Hazel sought to turn 10 fans into 20 at every opportunity - and soon their shows had from 500 - 1,500 people at every stop.

Continuing To Be Accessible To FansAs Sister Hazel became more popular they stayed true to their roots (though Universal denied them $1,500 to spruce up their web site because they thought that web sites "were a fad" - shocking!). When the band arrived at venues and there were fans lined up in the cold (some of whom had been there for hours) they would order them pizza and go out and sing to them in line. The band developed relationships with fans, coming to know many on a first name basis, sometimes even staying at their homes. Marc, a Hazelnut and one of the panelists, was introduced to the band when he started a thread on a message board about wanting to get on the tour bus to ride to the next show - then tour manager Andy found him and brought him along. (And here he sits in Vegas, years later). To this day, the band comes out after every show and signs until they are "looking around for more people to talk to".

Rock Boat - Walking the WalkIn 2002, fans in message boards started talking about having a convention, where they could meet and spend time with the band. Instead, Sister Hazel started Rock Boat - where fans could go on a cruise with the group. Having a platinum record and a #1 single, the band wanted to do something special for the fans that got them there. The band saw this as a great way to give thanks, and connect with fans whose lives have been enriched by the music and the Hazelnut community. The Rock Boat quickly grew from 400 fans to overtake the entire ship. It runs every year now with over a dozen bands participating.

Fans, Fans, Fans - Hugging Them AllRock Boat has grown into other events throughout the year as Sister Hazel continues to develop unique experiences for fans to connect with them, and each other. Rock Slope is a similar event at a ski resort each year, and Hazelnut Hang takes places in South Carolina. The Hazel Virgin Program allows existing fans to bring two new fans to Sister Hazel shows - the new fans get free tickets, and an invite a meet and greet with the band afterwards. The band has also engaged their fan base in their philanthropic endeavor, Lyrics for Life. (As you can see, Ken Block actually does hug all his fans - even me and Heather. Yes I am aware I look like a man in this photo...)

Sister Hazel's Business Lesson For YouYou should view your fans and customers as guests and friends. In fact, they don't even like the word fan (so I apologize for using it 8000 times in this post.) You need to not only call your customer your friend - but TREAT them like a friend in order to be authentic and genuine. If you're in that mindset you come at situations from a different place.

For the past few days I've been out in Las Vegas for the Word of Mouth Marketing Association's (WOMMA) Annual Summit.

This is my first trip to Vegas. Yes, really. I think a small part of me was expecting an Ocean's 11-type experience, however I'd be lying if I said that it wasn't actually 100% National Lampoon's Vegas Vacation.

My flight here was right out of central casting - half Japanese tourists with NO English language skills, several senior citizens who appeared to be cryogenically frozen, a few people that were so obese they needed special seat belts (I didn't know they existed either), and others playing poker the whole flight who like, ran off the plane. Needless to say this was a bit of a shock considering the last long flight I took was too Bermuda and my fellow passengers looked like they were heading to a Madras Convention for people over 50.

Overall, I can't figure out if Vegas is why people hate America or love America.

Throughout today I'm going to try re-purpose my lengthily notes to give you the highlight reel from WOMMA - buckle you special seatbelts kids!

November 11, 2007

Apologies in advance to my Crimson friends for the blog post that is about to occur...

Having spent 6 years in Boston, I can tell you that there is a stigma attached to those who hail from Harvard (or "The Big H" as I've heard it called). No matter which way you slice it, the word "douchebag" is often among the first to come to mind when one describes Harvard undergrads, especially those of the male variety.

Now these sorts of broad characterizations may or may not be appropriate or true. Call it jealousy, call it what you want - but party invitations like this one are definitely not helping the cause.

At first glance the invite seems innocuous enough, right? A little pre-game action for The Game (that would be unranked Harvard versus unranked Yale) on November 16th. However, a closer examination of the "details" for the party reveals this gem:

1. No cover charge—but show up early to ensure entrance before 11pm.
2. 2-for-1 drink special.
3. DJ Don Juan at the turntables.
4. Dress to impress!Please remember, this is a Harvard event. Friends are OK, entourages and friends of friends are not.

November 07, 2007

Hard to believe we're already up to the fourth version of this little installment. Without further ado - here is my brutally honest assessment of the shows I've been watching:

- Tila Tequila: A Shot At Love: Holy crap. I can't believe I just admitted I watch this show, even if it's in those mini-marathons that run outside of the usual timeslot. (In all fairness, I don't know what the timeslot is, so I couldn't REALLY watch this show even if I wanted to. It could be on right now for all I know!) I digress. This show should be called Tila Tequila: A Shot At What The Fuck. Tila, who is looking for love among a group of girls and guys (she's bisexual), could not have worse taste if she tried. It's like she's eliminating all the sane people and keeping around all the lunatics and asshats. (Except for that guy Ashley she tossed who had a total meltdown. You can bet that will be on some future epidosde of VH1's I Love 2007.)

- Nip/Tuck: Bonjiorno boys!! I missed you. Why do the hiatuses for this show always seem so long? I guess I'm having flashbacks to the break between season 2 and 3 that was seriously like a year an a half. Really, check it out I'm not making that up.

- Gossip Girl: If I didn't personally know multiple people who grew up in the wealthy enclaves of Manhattan I might actually get tricked into thinking this sort of shit is real. Buuuuut, in all fairness, I heart this show. Total guilty pleasure. My favorite aspect is the fact that the characters drink casually in almost every episode. This is the first "teen drama" I can remember where high school drinking and recreational drug use is depicted in an accurate light. That's right folks! Not every 17 year old who drinks "has a problem" that needs to be examined in "A Very Special Episode". (I always thought television reactions to that were way to over the top - you know, like Joey had a sip of Malibu and Dawson had her half way to the high school guidance counselor before she even got her buzz on. Let a sister chill VanDerbeek!)

- America's Next Top Model: I'm totally into this show this season, I even call it ANTM like the cool kids. Never watched it regularly before, but I was sucked in by those uber marathons that would run on MTV every Sunday this summer. Damn you marathons! I guess you can teach by repitition.

- Heroes: I'm still into this show, but they had a bit of a sophomore slump during those first 4/5 episodes. I think the light is at the end of the tunnel. Stay tuned for deets.

November 04, 2007

So, the dumb joke goes that holiday decorations go up the day after Halloween. Of course, we don't really mean like, THE day after - it's just a figure of speech, right?

Ok, not so much. This Thursday, November 1, I left my apartment and grabbed my rotting jack-o-lantern to toss on my way to work. As I deposited my pumpkin and Halloween accoutrement in the city trash bin (note the orange table cloth), what did I see above me, but the City of DC putting up HOLIDAY DECORATIONS on the lamp posts in Georgetown. No joke.

So naturally, I took my camera phone and snapped a picture of the workers for you all to enjoy. Yes they were totally creeped out by me at 8:00 in the morning, but such is the life of a blogger.